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Life spans

Below are listed the current life span standards for the various races of the Warcraft universe. The information used below is gathered from game information, confirmed-canon lore books and other confirmed canon sources. Information gathered from the non-canon sources of the RPG can be found further below. Please note that these ages are averages, gathered from that of various sources and usage of timelines as well as observations (such as undead being unable to die of old age). These are not the confirmed limits of age, as there have been various characters who have lived long past the standard age of their race.

For races such as night elves or blood elves, who recently lost their immortality, the standards may differ according to age prior to their immortality, and if they were born before or after their race was given immortality.

Contents

Mortal Races

Each maximum life span has been taken from various confirmed lore sources; races with more than one number listed denote the range of a standard age: for example, a human could live for 80 years, while another could reach the hundred. Below are listed races whose ages have been verified by these sources or there is enough gathered information to be listed. Races who have not met this standard are not included on this list; in addition, unless a source claims otherwise, the various clans of a race share the same life span (such as the three dwarven clans). Regarding hybrid races, their life spans are assumed to be a combination of their progenitors' ones.

Worgen

The age and life span of a worgen is unknown and may vary, depending on the race of the worgen before the transformation. As worgen are actually the result of succumbing to the feral urges and power of Goldrinn's magic, they are not a true race, and they have not a standard life span.

Ralaar Fangfire is an example of a this, having lived since the War of the Satyr, which was only a few years after the War of the Ancients, and was slain shortly after the Shattering, thousands of years after. Once someone has become a worgen, it seems that his aging process stops, allowing him to retain that same age (as Fangfire remained the same even after thousand years passed). This said, Fangfire was a night elf and may have benefited from their immortality while sealed in the Emerald Dream - the same seems to hold true for the surviving Druids of the Pack. Like other night elves, even without immortality, they may be capable of living into their thousands.

In the case of Genn Greymane, who was well into his eighties when he was turned (the peak of human life span), has been described as fighting with a vigor that rivals that of younger worgen.

It is possible that worgen merely have extremely long lives, rather than immortality, due to the blessing of Goldrinn. Alternatively being Goldrinn immortal and his responsible for the worgen curse, worgen too could be immortal. In this case, it is expected that like most immortal races, such as the night elves before the Battle of Mount Hyjal that they will age up to adulthood before the process stops. Most worgen were formerly humans, as such the standard for adulthood would likely remain the same. As for night elven worgen, their standard would be used instead.

Altogether, it depends on when a person became worgen, that is the age and appearance they seem to use for the rest of their life; which seems to be immortal.

Footnotes

^All but a handful of Draenei witnessed the exile from Argus, which took place 25,000 years ago;[1]Velen, Larohir, Jessera of Mac'Aree and Anchorite Tessa are confirmed to be part of said majority.[2] Given that only some Draenei have achieved immortality,[3] it is likely that normal Draenei have extremely long lifespans.

^Dragons nearing the end of their lives come to the Dragonblight to enrich the land with their passing.[4]

^"...and from here there would only be fewer and fewer dragons as time and circumstance took their toll."[5]

^Tyranastrasz suffered from his extreme age, being "centuries older than even Alexstrasza."[6]

^Gidwin Goldbraids was a childhood friend of Tarennar Sunstrike, an elf that used to kill undead in the Ghostlands in his youth. Since the elf cannot be older than 18 years, Gidwin should share the elf's age.[7]

^Forsaken are preserved in whatever condition they were in at the time they were raised. They could live forever if their body is kept intact.[9]

^Forsaken do not age, as the undeath ends this process. However, decay and rot can affect the forsaken mind sanity, and as time goes on they experience issues similar to the ones they would experience by aging. The most dreaded of these experiences is the mindless state, when the chill of undeath finally overcomes the mind, and the Forsaken becomes nothing more than a mindless zombie.[10]

^Goblins live lives of extreme danger daily, due to the fact that most of their inventions are made with intent to explode, or just explode anyway (intended or not.). Goblins also face other jobs put them around dangerous machinery daily, as well as various other dangers from alchemy and other such common goblin trades. Coupled with the day to day dangers anyone would face normally, goblins tend to live short lives; and as such it's uncommon to actually see an older goblin. Their survival as a species is likely due to their species having the ability to "Breed like rabbits", as quoted by several sources.[11]

^While few half elves have been seen in lore, and even less is available on their aging, Arator gives an idea of how a half-elf ages. When he is first seen in-game he's at least twenty years old, having been alive several years prior to his parent's disappearance, and he has the stature of an average adult elf (even wearing plate armor, which a younger one may not be able to do). This would make adulthood for a half-elf about twenty years of age.[12]

^Sylvanas' leader story includes a flashback of her getting ready for the day, which states 'she had not yet seen her twentieth autumn.' This puts her somewhere in her teens during the flashback.[13]

^Valeera Sanguinar is referred to as young by multiple sources, including Varian. She also lost her parents when she was child. Given the Warcraft time line, she'd be in her early/mid twenties as an adult.[14]

^Tarenar Sunstrike sneaked into the Ghostlands to kill undead in his youth; that zone claimed its present name 7 years before Cataclysm.[15]

^All elves are claimed to now live up to several thousand years old, having all lost their sources of immortality.[16]

^King Anasterian Sunstrider was notably ancient for a high elf at the time of his death, having lived for 3,000 years.[17]

^The hozen are a short-lived race. Their elders typically are no more than twenty years old.[18]

^Eitrigg is stated to be in his late fifties in The Shattering, and described as an elderly orc in Tides of War.

^Greatmother Geyah is described as an elderly as the red pox outbreak went on, while Drek'Thar was referred to as just past an orc's middle age at the time of Rise of the Horde. Since thirty years have passed since then, the age would be somewhere in the eighties.

^Cairne Bloodhoof was described as an extremely old tauren, though he was still a powerful warrior at the time of his death. During the Third War, Cairne was 99 years of age, which would place him at 106 or 107 at death.[8]

Immortal Races

These races are immortal and do not die of old age. Some even go as far as to not show weakness as they age.

Footnotes

^Guardians are eternal by nature, and as such aging has no effect on them and cannot kill them, as seen with Tortolla (described as ageless by Hamuul Runetotem who was present during the War of the Ancients, and long beforehand as well. Their eternal status allows for resurrection, as seen with Aviana. [25]

^As with their father Cenarius, his progeny seem to share in his immortality status, such as Remulos who has been alive for thousands of years.[27]

^Mountain giants do not seem to age. They are made apparently out of stone, and similar to the Earthen cannot die from old age.[28]

Extending life through magic

Some powerful mages can extend their lives through magic. The most prominent example being Aegwynn who lived to be over 800 years old. She of course is a very special case as she had the powers of the Tirisfalen at her disposal.

Speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

Perhaps the aging began for night elves after they lost their immortality and they will live for another 650 years before dying of old age, with few dying in a couple of thousand years.

Draenei life spans could have been increased from their connection with the Light. The Light has a restorative effect, as evidence by its multiple healing properties. It is possible that Holy Light users, such as Priests and Paladins, have increased life spans thanks to their constant use of the holy powers. The Eredar's may be explained by the demonic powers they wield. If they are mortal, the death of a draenei by age has not been recorded or at least found.

According to the Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos manual Malfurion and Illidan Stormrage were 15,032 years old and Tyrande Whisperwind was 13,836 years old at the time of the Third War. As the Third War occurred about 10,000 years after the War of the Ancients, and thus before the night elves became immortal, Malfurion and Illidan were about 5,000 years old and Tyrande about 3,800 years old at the time of the War of the Ancients. These ages suggest a natural lifespan far longer than those stated in the World of Warcraft Roleplaying Game. The War of the Ancients Trilogy however suggests the three are the same age, meaning ages, and by extension life spans, may have been subject to retcon.

It is reasonable to assume the naga have maintained the long lifespans they had as elves, thus explaining why naga from the War of the Ancients are still around in the present day.

World of Warcraft RPG

This section concerns content exclusive to the Warcraft RPG and is considered non-canon.

Below are the current life span standards for various races at the time of World of Warcraft & The Burning Crusade as given in the World of Warcraft RPG. Old age represents the average age of death for most individuals, most people on Azeroth will die of disease or of the natural, violent nature of the world before they reach venerable status.[29] Mainly heroes ever reach the maximum age,[29] as such maximum age represents the average range of death for unique individuals. These individuals live longer for whatever reason (perhaps will to live, better living conditions, magic, or by other unnatural means). Please note that exceptions do exist and there are individuals, "legends" who may outlive even those who attain venerable status. A good example includes night elves that have lived over 10,000 years (although this was with the help of immortality, which they have recently lost).

Races

Each maximum life span, is derived from dice rules which are based on d6, d10, d12, d20, and d% dice. The table shows the lowest to the highest possible outcome for rolls which represent the range of maximum lifespan usually for heroes of any given race. The average person will die of old age before reaching venerable. It should be noted that the table does not always fit with written lore references to lifespans, and there are always exceptions to the rules as well, with individuals who live longer than the average "maximum" range. In the case where a second set of numbers is listed on the table, it is to denote where written lore accounts may differ from the dice mechanics, whenever applicable.

Dragons

While Manual of Monsters gives a ballpark figure to how much time passes between each stage of a dragon's life cycle, it lacks information on "whelps", but implies that whelps become "drakes" in one year of hatching from the egg (however this may no longer be accurate, although it seems to be supported by information given in Day of the Dragon).

Age ranges for dragons from Dark Factions represent race ages for the dragon (whelp) creature class (technically a dragon whelp creature class). As noted the game rules only describe how to play "whelps", specifically a red dragon whelp (which start out as adults, and can reach a certain maximum age range before dying). Other whelps must be made by modifying certain aspects of the creature class (subtypes and abilities). The age ranges are not equivalent to aging into drakes, mature, or dragonwyrm forms. There are no rules in the book on how to play a drake, but it discusses that players could create their own creature classes to describe drakes.

Nerubians

Footnotes

^Forsaken do not age, as they are already dead.[29] Forsaken do not mature into adulthood, an individual becomes Forsaken upon death. While technically immortal, some Forsaken exhibit signs of old age, losing their identities and eventually sentience. They appear as dying old humans, feeble and scared, with a cold growing inside them, and forgetting who they are. They are losing their mind to the Scourge, and would eventually become a "mindless one" - an unintelligent zombie. All forsaken fear this process, as it means they revert to the Scourge's will and lose themselves to the Lich King and his dominance. The Forsaken will often kill these poor souls, perhaps as a form of mercy.[30]

^Written lore accounts claim a half elf still enjoys a long life span, though lacking his elven parent's longevity, reaching maturity at 20 years of age and living for two to three centuries on average.[31][32]

^Written lore accounts claim half-orcs live longer than their orc parents, with life spans equivalent to a human's.[33][34] The dice maximum age for half-orcs more or less overlaps the human and orc ranges of life span (with both orcs and humans actually appearing to live longer than half-orcs).

^Written lore accounts claim that high elves reach adulthood at 110 years of age, but can also live up to several thousand years before dying of old age.[35][16]

^In addition to their natural longevity, a number of naga develop mutations that increase their life spans even further. Some are immortal.[19]

^An earlier lore account claims that night elves achieve adulthood at 110 years and, while no longer immortal, can live to see a second millennium.[37] The Warcraft Encyclopedia also states that "all elves are now mortal and have comparable lifespans that can extend as long as several thousand years".[16]

^An earlier lore account claims orcs are a relatively short-lived people, reaching maturity in about 18 years and rarely living longer than 75 years.[38] It is also said that orcs that have drunk the blood of demons can live for a very long time, the magic sustaining them.[39]

^Quilboar never reach maximum age, they commit ritual suicide once they become weak, elderly, crippled or past child-bearing age.[40]

^Satyrs are immortal and cannot die due to old age, nor do they age.[41]

^An earlier lore account claims tauren have relatively short life spans, reaching adulthood around age 15 and rarely living for longer than 100 years.[42]

References

^Rise of the Horde - "All but a handful of us know what we fled on Argus," said Larohir. "We remember it. We remember what Kil’jaeden did, what happened to our people. We would—we will—happily die to preserve even a handful of our race uncorrupted."

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